2022 NBA Finals Game 4: 3
You know the NBA Finals are over when Kevin Durant wins his first Finals MVP trophy, right? OK, maybe you don’t know that—but it felt like it after the Golden State Warriors stormed back to beat the Boston Celtics on Friday night. The Warriors have now taken a 3-1 lead in the series and look extremely tough to beat. Here are three things we learned from Game 4 on Friday. #2022 #NBAFinalsGame4
Golden State’s Defense Is Improving
During its first loss of these NBA Finals, Golden State forced 20 turnovers and gave up 91 points on 46% shooting. Despite giving up a barrage of three-pointers, including one that went down with less than five seconds remaining, there were still signs of improvement for Golden State’s defense. Andre Iguodala put on a defensive clinic in Klay Thompson’s absence by securing 6 steals and Draymond Green looked better guarding Al Horford than he did against Kevin Love. The key to dethroning Cleveland is staying out of foul trouble—not exactly an easy task when LeBron James is averaging over 40 minutes per game—but if they can clean things up on defense they could find themselves just a win away from another title.
With a shot at their second straight championship slipping away, it was encouraging to see so many players step up for Boston. Marcus Smart hit two huge threes in under ten seconds and finished with 13 points off of 50% shooting, Terry Rozier drained some big shots off the bench and Jaylen Brown dominated offensively in Game 3 (including eight offensive rebounds). With four All-Stars and plenty of talented young players around them, Boston should be confident heading into Game 5 as they look to stave off elimination. As far as momentum goes though, all eyes will be on Cleveland on Sunday night as they look to capture their fourth straight crown while avenging last year’s loss.
Kevin Durant Is Still Really Good
When Kevin Durant went down with a calf injury in game 5 of last year’s Western Conference finals, most people assumed his season was over. Luckily for both him and Golden State, he made a speedy recovery and returned to help deliver two more titles to Oracle Arena. He has now played in 10 straight finals games, which is an impressive feat no matter how you slice it. And even at 31 years old, Durant’s scoring hasn’t dipped since joining Golden State: He averaged 28 points per game in 2017-18, which was only slightly off his career average of 30.1 PPG. It’s hard to say if we’ll ever see another player like KD again—someone who can score so effortlessly while also bringing incredible defensive versatility on top of it all. It’s also tough to know if we should expect any dropoff from him going forward. But one thing is certain: If there are any teams left standing that can beat these Warriors come June, they will have their hands full trying to stop Durant from lighting them up night after night.
Boston Needs a Solution on Offense Without Kyrie Irving
One of the biggest question marks heading into Friday’s matchup between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors was how Boston would generate offense without Kyrie Irving on its roster. Thanks to a combination of solid play from Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford, as well as some hot shooting from Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Marcus Morris, and Gordon Hayward in certain stretches throughout Sunday’s contest, Brad Stevens found his solution. It wasn’t pretty by any means but it got the job done for a second straight game... for now. As ugly as it may have been on offense at times — not just during their final defensive stand in crunch time — one thing is clear: The Celtics are winning with their defense so far in these Finals. And that's exactly what they'll need to do again if they want to extend their season past Game 5. If they don't find an offensive spark soon, however, there's no telling how long they can keep up their stellar play on that end of the floor.
